Police state in the making

A police officer chasing and then killing an unarmed teenager by shooting him multiple times, which is what we were told happened in Ferguson, Missouri, has sparked what has now become five days of protests and demonstrations in that city.

But what has gripped the nation over the past several days is not the unnecessary killing of another black teenager, but the brute force with which police have responded to a community demanding answers and accountability.

Instead of answers and accountability, residents are getting their fill of flash-bang grenades, tear gas canisters and rubber bullets, and are having their rights to peaceful assembly, free speech and free press curtailed.

"There is never an excuse for violence against police, or for those who would use this tragedy as a cover for vandalism or looting," President Obama said in a statement in which he discussed both the Ferguson unrest and U.S. efforts to protect and rescue Yezidi civilians in Iraq from ISIL militants.

"There's also no excuse for police to use excessive force against peaceful protests, or to throw protestors in jail for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights. And here, in the United States of America, police should not be bullying or arresting journalists who are just trying to do their jobs and report to the American people on what they see on the ground."

Unfortunately, the president's response is the same stale plea our political leaders use when minority communities in this country air their grievances. Why is it that our leaders are quick to act decisively abroad when innocent lives are at stake, but often turn a blind eye to the deadly threats being faced by minority communities in this country?

It should be clear to the president and anyone following the police over-the-top response to demonstrators in Ferguson that "to attack and terrorize" has now replaced the police sacred oath to protect and serve the community.

This is what happens when we allow the federal government to outfit local police departments with aircraft, armored trucks — including mine-resistant ambush protected armored vehicles — machine guns, grenade launchers, camouflage and night-vision equipment.

Armed with all their war toys, police for years now have been using them in residential areas, particularly those in minority communities.

A recent ACLU report, based on public records information on 260 police SWAT units, found that SWAT teams were used 75 percent of the time to serve warrants.

"In addition, the incidents we studied revealed stark, often extreme, racial disparities in the use of SWAT locally, especially in cases involving search warrants," the report said.

Not unexpectedly, the use of these military gear and tactics, which amount to nothing more than training exercises for SWAT units, have led to the death of a number of innocent people, including children.

Eurie Stamps, a 68-year-old who was "accidentally" shot and killed in his Framingham home by a member of a SWAT team, is one example.

If your community is unaffected, if you are not worried that a flash grenade will land in your baby's crib, as has happened in at least one SWAT operation, you might not care much.

You would be shortsighted for taking such a view, however. The response in Ferguson would suggest, having honed their skills terrorizing minority neighborhoods, our militarized police are now coming after two pillars of our democracy — peaceful assembly and a free press, which as we all know is the usual path to a police state.